Pregnancy Hip Pain and Prenatal Yoga

With each pregnancy I find that my hip pain increases exponentially. In the past I only experienced pain during the last few weeks of pregnancy when the extra weight of the baby weighed on my hips but this time around I started feeling hip and pelvic pain during the 1st trimester. Pretty much any position in which I sat, stood or laid caused me discomfort. I sought aid from a chiropractor but I learned that loosening my muscles was key to relieving the pain so I decided to try some at home remedies like prenatal yoga.

I enjoy doing yoga when I’m not pregnant but being pregnant somewhat limits my ability to do the yoga I was used to, so I searched YouTube for some easy prenatal yoga videos and gave it a try. Thanks to our Roku I was able to stream the YouTube videos right on my television, this gave me plenty of room to spread out my yoga mat and enjoy the full stretch.

I also have this Yoga Pregnancy: Pre and Post Natal Workouts DVD which Joe bought for me when I was pregnant with Jude. It’s a great low-impact yoga video.

I’ve only tried a few YouTube videos but so far I really like Body Talk Daily Pregnancy Yoga:

And Ohana Prenatal Yoga:

Over the weekend I had horrible hip pain and spent a good portion of my day really working to stretch my legs, hips and lower back. Before I began my stretch I applied some heat for about 20 minutes and then after my stretch I applied ice for another 20 minutes. The next day I felt a thousand times better so now I do a bit of stretching each day to prevent major flare ups.

Even if you don’t have hip pain I recommend trying prenatal yoga, it really helps you relax and enjoy this brief time you have carrying your baby.

tip: You may also want to invest in a Yoga Block to help lift your bum off the floor.

Occasionally I convince Joe to do my prenatal yoga workouts with me, he enjoys yoga but it’s really funny to watch him respond when the instructor says things like, “wrap your arms around your belly and just enjoy bonding with your baby.”

FYI: I’m not a doctor or chiropractor but this is essentially what the chiropractor did for me at his office. However, if anything feels wrong don’t do it. It’s a good idea to consult your OB as well.